1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure is generally related to polishing slurries and methods for polishing workpieces or components, and in particular, polishing slurries incorporating a liquid medium and a particulate abrasive and methods for utilizing the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Across a wide range of industries it is common to machine workpieces or components, including metal and ceramic components as well as composite components. One mature and intensely studied industry area includes the polishing of semiconductor substrates by a process that is known as chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP), in which a slurry is both mechanically and chemically active to remove the deposited materials from a semiconductor substrate. Other art areas have focused purely on mechanical removal, through use of abrasive slurries (also know as free abrasives), containing abrasive particulate material such as diamond, as well as a host of ceramic oxide and non-oxide materials.
Among the many types of ceramic and metal components that are subjected to post-formation machining, components formed of hard ceramic materials such as silicon carbide represent a particular challenge. Such components have found industrial use in a wide array of applications, including structural, refractory, and semiconductor processing components. Due to processing constraints associated with conventional ceramic processing including natural process tolerances, ceramic components such as silicon carbide components oftentimes require post-forming machining in which the components are in a densified form but require surface finishing. Given the hardness of typical ceramic components, it is generally laborious, expensive, and time consuming to effect final stage machining, which oftentimes includes polishing.
In light of the foregoing, many industries continue to seek polishing slurries or free-abrasives and process methodology associated therewith that simultaneously achieve a high material removal rate (MRR), as well as a suitably fine finish, such as low surface roughness and high degree of planarity and surface parallelism. Such needs are particularly acute in the context of ceramic components, particularly including hard ceramics as noted above.